MUNICH, GERMANY — The wait is over. One year after discount supermarket brand PENNY‘s emotional Christmas spot “The Wish” moved people in Germany and around the world, and won multiple awards including a Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the eagerly awaited new PENNY Christmas film has been released online and on social media.
The 2022 PENNY Christmas film, “The Rift,” is again highly topical and no less emotional than its predecessor. “The Rift” addresses the divisions that are increasingly running through society, and implores viewers to encourage an open dialogue with their neighbors. The campaign is an urgent call to listen to each other again. A plea for fewer barriers and more empathy: a clear message, even beyond Christmas and more explosively topical than ever. The film was conceived and realized by the lead agency Serviceplan Campaign in Munich, and directed by Seb Edwards of ANORAK Film.
“Can we talk?” a boy asks his neighbor in the final seconds of the new PENNY Christmas film. Just a few minutes earlier, we watched him yell at her in anger. It’s a question people have been asking their neighbors less and less in recent years – and one they should ask much more often. War, Covid-19, the climate crisis, and many other disagreements, large and small, have dominated discussions in recent years. Society is more divided than ever. Yet wasn’t Christmas supposed to be the time to reconcile?
After three years of conflicts that have divided friends, acquaintances, and families, it’s now time to start reaching out to one another again. That’s the compelling plea of the eagerly awaited new PENNY Christmas film. The film uses powerful images to show the cracks that run through society: generational conflicts, racism, war supporters vs peace activists, cars vs bicycles, and fear of Covid vs pandemic fatigue. The spot shows all this within an ordinary apartment block that is increasingly and literally being torn apart. “Silent Night” plays softly in the background, but all festive understanding of each other seems to be missing until the film reaches a climax with the main character extending an olive branch to a neighbor by saying: Let’s talk.
“At our PENNY markets, all kinds of people come together. This year, however, we noticed people moving apart more than ever. Different opinions not only divide society, but they also cause rifts in our private relationships,” Marcus Haus, Divisional Marketing Manager at PENNY, explained the intention behind this year’s campaign. “That’s why it was especially close to our hearts to do our part to help notice and ideally mend the rifts in our society. This requires dialogue instead of confrontation and ignorance – and this is exactly where our campaign comes in.”
Christoph Everke, Creative Managing Director of Serviceplan Campaign, added, “We’ve loaded our Christmas film with cultural and social themes that really no one can ignore. Opinions clash and literally break an entire apartment block apart. The topics are taken from real life and portrayed so relentlessly that you can’t help but feel caught out. The film gives you goosebumps, a feeling of uneasiness, and hopefully, makes you rethink. I’m deeply impressed by the way Seb Edwards and ANORAK have brought our idea to life – and by the courage, the PENNY team has once again shown in making a painful yet important subject theirs.”
The digital extension of the campaign seamlessly picks up on the idea of dialogue and makes it a reality. In cooperation with the Forum für Streitkultur and with further information material from the Initiative Offene Gesellschaft, the landing page penny.de/lassreden provides 10 concrete tips for constructive discussions. In addition, from the time of the film’s release, Influencer and Presenter Jonas Ems will be drawing attention to the film’s conflict topics and how we encounter them in everyday life via his high-reach social media channels TikTok and YouTube.
The PENNY Christmas film can be viewed on the PENNY YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram channels and will also be shown in full length in German cinemas. It will be accompanied by extensive campaign assets: digital and print, paid and owned, out of home, and in PENNY’s own advertising materials. Since November 07, the first emotional preview videos have been live on social media.
CREDITS:
Penny Markt GmbH
Dr. Stefan Görgens / Penny-COO
Marcus Haus / Bereichsleiter Marketing
Werner Hesse Quack / Head of Brand Marketing
Serviceplan
Christoph Everke / Serviceplan Campaign / Managing Director
Moritz Dornig / Serviceplan Campaign / Creative Director
Matthias Schuster / Serviceplan Campaign / Creative Director
Katharina King / Serviceplan Campaign / Copywriter
Alessia Coschignano / Serviceplan Campaign / Creative Director
Florian Joester / Serviceplan Campaign / Junior Copywriter
Nedim Aktas / Serviceplan Campaign / Copywriter
Elvira Breit / Serviceplan Campaign / Junior Art Director
Laura Rösch / Serviceplan Campaign / Art Director
Vivien Katholing / Serviceplan Campaign / Junior Art Director
Yvan Jonathan Fuchs / Serviceplan Campaign / intern Copy
Alessia Scheffler / Serviceplan Campaign / Junior Account Manager
Frederike Striegel / Serviceplan Campaign / Account Director
Marén Echtermeyer / Serviceplan Campaign / Account Management
Aisha Blackwell / NEVEREST GmbH & Co Kg / Executive Producer
Jennifer Meisels / NEVEREST GmbH & Co Kg / Producer
Film-Produktion
ANORAK Film GmbH / Production company
Seb Edwards / Director
Kasper Tuxen / DOP
Kave Quinn / Production Design
Fritzi Ngenci / Costume Design
Adi Popescu / SFX Supervisor
Stephen Grasso / VFX Supervisor
Serban Porupca / Art Director
Tom Lindsay / Editor
Nicolas Becker / Sounddesign
Ken Yasumoto / Soundmix
Ben Lukas Boysen / Music
Christoph Petzenhauser / Executive Producer
Björn Krüger-Levy / Producer
Alex Molea / Service Producer
ICON films / Serviceproduction:
TRIM / Offline Edit
TIME BASED ARTS / VFX studio
Julia Todorow / Casting
